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Our sympathies for the crowd at Denver, Colorado, who had to endure one of the weakest episodes of SmackDown Live in ages. The go-home show before a pay-per-view is generally lacking in quality, with the central objective being to protect the talent before the big event.
However, even by that yardstick, this wasn't a good episode. Until the last 15 minutes of the show, we were tempted to call this article, 'Worst of SmackDown Live'. Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens changed our mind, but this episode still left much to be desired.
Let's revisit the show and look back at what worked for us, and what didn't. Mind you, unfortunately, the latter far outweighs the former.
Here is our analysis of what went wrong this week, on SmackDown Live, with a few redeeming points for the episode.
#1 Worst: Just an unimportant show
In an era when so much entertainment is available on demand (even on the WWE Network), you have to give the audience a compelling reason to tune in and watch a program live, on a weekly basis.
When you make a show part of a larger narrative overall, a small piece of the jigsaw puzzle, the audience then realizes that the show is a 'can't miss' affair and is compelled to tune in. Nothing of consequence happened during the show at all. We could have skipped right to the pay-per-view and it wouldn't have really mattered.
Sadly, because of this very same reason, no match except for the Kevin Owens-Shane McMahon contest has any real heat. The matches on Sunday may be classic affairs, but will the audience care?
We were especially disappointed with The Usos reading their rights to The New Day, and the lacklustre few minutes that segment was. With the kind of promo ability that both teams have, this should have been far more exciting.
#1 Best: Zayn exposing another side of Owens
Before the final confrontation between Owens and Shane McMahon in the final segment of the show, Shane was confronted by Sami Zayn on his way to the ring, still injured from the powerbomb to the apron last week. Zayn disclosed to Shane that Owens had another side, and this was a touch of genius.
Honestly speaking, we've always known Kevin Owens to be a sarcastic, scheming and generally underhanded man, thus far. Zayn revealed him to be a sadistic monster, exposing the monster that handed out the beat down on Vince McMahon, not so long ago. This segment told a far better story than the rest of the show did.
Of course, the final segment was awesome, but more on that in just a bit.
#2 Worst: The scripting
'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me'. Such are the words said by a man who dubs himself 'The Artist'. If feeding some of the most awful verbiages to Jinder Mahal wasn't enough, now Nakamura's cool quotient is being brought down too!
The scripting, especially for the Mahal-Nakamura feud has been extremely underwhelming indeed. Unfortunately, because of the same, there is absolutely no heat for the top prize in the division right now. The feud could have been so much more personal than it is.
When Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor use aspects of wrestling promos to sell their fights, we wonder why WWE refuses to do the same. After all, they invented it!
#2 Best: The final battle
The only feud, heading into Hell in a Cell, that has any real heat, is the one between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens, owing to the fantastic build. This week, their rivalry got even more personal, as the two wrestled all over the arena, in the back and ultimately, in the ring as well.
Sadly, we had to wait one hour and forty-five minutes, before this segment came around. However, to its credit, this would have been a great segment on just about any show at all. Because of it, this is, by far, the match we're most excited about this weekend.
#3 Worst: No Fashion Files
Those of you who've followed our 'Best and Worst' countdowns for any length of time know that we are big fans of the Fashion Files. WWE advertised a return for this week. Unfortunately, the segment did not air. It will now be aired during the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Instead of promising this segment and then, not delivering on their promise, WWE should have just had some kind of countdown until Hell in a Cell. Let's hope that this does lead into a program for Breenzgo, soon enough.
#4 Worst: Placeholder matches
Whether it was the tag team match between the women, or Tye Dillinger vs. Baron Corbin (we'll give Bobby Roode vs. Mike Kanellis a pass because of how long it has been since we saw either man on TV), there was no reason to care for these matches.
They were just placeholders to kill time and fill in two hours of content on the show. Had we been given any kind of reason to watch these matches, the circumstances could have been a little different.
Ultimately, RAW, all said and done is offering us a Shield reunion. SmackDown has a man turning into a dog, as one of its featured storylines. Some of the best performers do not even get TV time.
Let's hope that things do pick up this weekend and beyond for the blue brand. It is shocking just how far the show has fallen, in just a year since the first brand split.
